A/N:Just a little one-shot I thought of when watching Deathly Hallows. Reviews appreciated!:)
Draco Malfoy skulked in a corner of a hall as he watched Harry Potter head out of the hall and toward the Quidditch pitch. Groaning, Draco threw his head back in exasperation and colliding with something solid.
"Ow!" a girl's voice said irritated from behind him. "Malfoy, please be more careful next time!"
The Slytherin turned to look at the girl behind him and shrugged lightly before returning his gaze to where Potter had been moments before. "Alright, he's gone," he said, moving away from the corner so that the poor squished girl could emerge.
"Honestly, Malfoy, would it really have been so bad if Harry had come upon us just now?" Hermione Granger huffed.
"Of course," Draco said slyly, wiping invisible dust off of his robes. "If he caught sight of the pair of us conversing so easily, he might very well have a stroke."
"Well, we're only going to continue our conversing if you promise not to shove me into a wall next time!"
"Fine," Malfoy said, rolling his eyes.
"Fine. Now, what is it you called me out here for? You could have spoken to me just as easily in the mixed-houses eighth year common room."
Draco's pale features pinched and he looked down at the ground. "I needed a more private area to speak to you in."
She nodded curiously. "Ah. Now, what was it you wanted to ask me about Patroni? To be honest, Harry really does know more about them than I do . . ."
"You know bloody well why I can't ask Harry!" Draco fumed, "And don't act like you don't. I've seen the way you look at us when we talk."
Hermione bit her lip guiltily and nodded, saying: "Yes, I surmised what was going on between you two. I was just wondering . . ."
"Wondering what?"
"Well, does he know yet? At some point you have to tell him; Harry deserves to know, and you deserve to try."
"That's a topic for another time," he grouched. "For now, I have a question about my Patronus."
Hermione sighed in frustration, but nonetheless said: "Right. What do you want to know?"
"Can a Patronus . . . Change shape?" he asked anxiously.
"Yes. For centuries there have been records of Patroni changing form."
"Oh, this is bloody brilliant!" the Slytherin groaned, fixing his eyes on the girl in front of him. "Well, you're the smart one, aren't you? Explain how this happened to me!"
"Although I won't say it is a common occurrence, it is not unheard of," Hermione said thoughtfully. "I myself have known two people whose Patroni have changed. It happens when one undergoes a personality alteration, typically involving emotional elevation or duress. Considering the trauma you endured during the Battle of Hogwarts and the sudden shift in your life and affections afterward . . . Well, I honestly can't say I am surprised your Patronus changed. Besides- "
"That's it, I've heard enough," Draco said, anxiously knotting his fingers into his hair and pacing. "If you really think that my Patronus has changed due to Harry-bloody-Potter you're . . . .you're mental! I mean, there's no way he would . . . That we could ever . . . " His voice cracked and trailed off into the empty hall, and Hermione looked at him with sympathy.
"Mal- . . . Draco, I didn't mean to upset you, but those are the facts about Patroni changes. And besides, I . . . I know how you feel."
"What do you know, Granger?!" Draco fumed. "What do you possibly fucking know about this? Do you know how hard it is to see him every damn day and not be able to tell him? To know that, that if I did, the least of my worries would be rejection and mockery and shame? Hell, even if he didn't mock me, we would never be the same again! We'd be back where we started at the beginning of this year, with a lot of awkward pauses and sleepless nights. I don't want that again . . . I can't take it . . ."
Draco put his face in his hands tiredly, and Hermione tentatively rested a hand on his shoulder. "Look, Ron and I didn't start out as a happy couple right away. We hurt each other several times, denied our feelings for years, dated other people . . . It wasn't until the war that we finally kissed."
He looked up at her incredulously. "Really?" he asked, curiosity taking over the anger I his voice.
"Really," she said sincerely, squeezing his shoulder lightly. "Trust me, it wasn't easy for us either. And though you will face different problems than we ever did, considering the nature of your relationship over the years, I still have hope for you two."
There was a pause, and then Draco straightened his spine and began to walk away, calling over his shoulder "I'm going to the Quidditch pitch now."
Hermione smiled happily and called back "So you'll do it, then?"
Though he tried to disguise it a little, Malfoy couldn't help but feel immensely grateful. Having someone who was willing to listen to him and understand- not to mention give him support for what he was about to do- was really nice. So, he would be honest. "Yeah," he said, turning around to smile at her. "Oh, and Granger," he started, turning to walk off again.
"Yes?"
"Occupy your Keeper Weasel for the next hour or so; I don't want him to interrupt anything."
She laughed lightly, and said "Will do."
No one could have imagined how close the mud-blood and the pure-blood would become after the Battle of Hogwarts, but war changed a lot of things. As Draco headed outside to the pitch, he hoped that Harry had changed, too.
The sky outside was a hazy, ashen grey color streaked with orange and pink The sun was just going down, and a layer of fog carpeted the ground, with a few whips shooting up into the air, having been disturbed by a rather fast broomstick. Draco smoothed his hair nervously as he mounted his broom and looked up to the clouds, where he could see Harry's faint outline whipping around the goal posts. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, the Slytherin gripped his broom tightly and pushed off of the ground, zooming up into the mist above.
After a few moments of searching, he heard the tell-tale whiz of a broomstick near his right side. Turning his broom toward the sound, Draco shot off in that direction, and quickly sighted Harry in a clearing where the clouds had drifted apart. The Boy Who Lived was at a stand still, simply hovering in the air as he looked around at the sky pensively. Draco felt his heart beat fast; Harry looked wonderful with that thoughtful expression on his face and his mist-soaked robes clinging to his body. The Slytherin boy felt his face grow hot as his throat tightened with anxiety.
'I've go to do this,' he thought, heading closer to Harry. 'It's now or never.' With that thought, he slowly went up to the other boy, stopping his broom a scant few inches from Harry's. The Gryffindor didn't have to turn around to sense that someone was behind him- and he and a pretty good idea of who it was.
"What do you want?" he asked curiously, not turning around.
"I - I just wanted to talk to you for a minute," Draco replied, his voice a bit shaky.
"About what?" Harry inquired, turning and facing Draco until their noses were nearly touching.
Draco felt his cheeks get warmer, but he swallowed his fear and met Harry's emerald green eyes with a steady, ice blue gaze. "Harry, did you know that a Patronus can change form?"
Thinking back to Snape and Tonks, Harry nodded. "Yeah, yeah I did. Why?"
"Because mine just changed," Draco said softly.
Harry raised his brow curiously. "What did it change into?"
Draco pulled out his wand and whispered "Expecto patronum!" As expected, silver strands spilled out of his wand, the magic forming a wispy, ethereal-
"Doe," Harry whispered. Their eyes met, and Harry cast his own Patronus, a stag. The two Patroni ran to each other and nuzzled, jumping around each other excitedly and nosing. Then, the stag came to Draco and the doe to Harry. The boys sat their baffled as the Patroni stared them down, then vanished into the sky together. For a few moments, there was silence, until Harry couldn't stand it any more.
"Did you. . . Did you see that, too?" he asked quietly.
The blonde nodded. "I did."
Harry felt nervousness and excitement bubble up in his chest as he looked to the other. "What do you suppose it means?" he dared to ask.
Draco smiled lightly, and softly said: "I think it means . . . that we are meant to be." Hope sprang up in both of them with those words, and they leaned their brooms closer together until Harry's messy bangs tickled Draco's forehead.
"I think you're right," Harry whispered, just before Draco captured his lips with his own. The sky around the lovers darkened as the sun retreated into the sky, and the moon arose above the mist, as pale and silver as a Patronus.